b. Campinas (of Portuguese parents), July 11, 1836; d. Belem, Sept. 16, 1896.
He studied with his father, then at the Rio de Janeiro Conservatory, where he produced 2 operas, A Noite do Castello (Sept. 4, 1861) end Joana de Flandres (Sept. 15, 1863). The success of these works induced Emperor Don Pedro II to grant him a stipend for further study in Milan; there he soon made his mark with a humorous little piece entitled Se sa minga (a song from this work, Del fucile ad ago, became popular), produced in 1867.
After another piece in the same vein (Nella tuna, 1868), he made a more serious bid for fame with the opera Il Cuarany, produced at La Scala on March 19, 1870, with brilliant success; this work, in which Amazon Indian themes are used, quickly went the round of Italy, and was given in London (Covent Garden) on July 13, 1872.
Returning to Rio de Janeiro, Gomes brought out a very popular operetta, Telegrapho elettrico. His other operas are Fosca (La Scala, Milan, Feb 16, 1873), Salvator Rosa (Genoa, March 21, 1874), Maria Tudor (La Scala, Milan March 27, 1879), Lo Schiovo (Rio de Janeiro Sept. 27, 1889, and Condor (La Scala, Milan, Feb. 21, 1891.
He wrote the hymn Il saluto del Brasile for the centenary of American independence (Philadelphia, July 19,1876); also the cantata Colombo, for the Columbus Festival (Oct. 12, 1892). In 1895 he was appointed director of the newly founded Belém Cons., but he died soon after arriving there. Besides his operas, he composed songs (3 books) , choruses, and piano pieces.